Chief_Eagle_Cap_signs_a_petition_at_the_Montana_League_of_Women_Voters_booth_at_the_Montana_State_Fair_in_Helena

This is a timeline of women's suffrage in Montana. The fight for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

started early, before Montana became a state. In 1887, women gained the right to vote in

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

elections and on tax issues. In the years that followed, women battled for full, equal suffrage, which culminated in a year-long campaign in 1914 when they became one of eleven states with equal voting rights for most women. Montana ratified the Nineteenth Amendment on August 2, 1919 and was the thirteenth state to ratify. Native American women voters did not have equal rights to vote until 1924.

19th century

1880s

1883 * First women's suffrage speech is given in Montana by

Frances Willard Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard (September 28, 1839 – February 17, 1898) was an American educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist. Willard became the national president of Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1879 an ...

. 1884 * Women's suffrage is proposed during the state constitutional convention by Judge W. J. Stephens of Missoula, but it is not accepted. 1887 * Clara McAdow requests aid for women's suffrage organization from suffragists in the east of the United States. * March 8: Women gain the right to vote in school board elections in their own districts. 1889 * Women's suffrage is proposed at the Montana State Constitutional Convention. * Petitions to the convention for women's suffrage came from Jefferson County and Madison County.

1890s

1890 * Women's suffrage club formed in Helena. 1895 * May:

Emma Smith DeVoe Emma Smith DeVoe (August 22, 1848 – September 3, 1927) was an American women suffragist in the early twentieth century, changing the face of politics for both women and men alike. When she died, the Tacoma News Tribune called her Washington s ...

comes to Montana to organize chapters of the

National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National ...

(NAWSA). * September: A suffrage convention is held in Helena with

Carrie Chapman Catt Carrie Chapman Catt (; January 9, 1859 Fowler, p. 3 – March 9, 1947) was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920. Catt ...

as a speaker. * The Montana Woman's Suffrage Association (MWSA) is formed. * A women's suffrage bill for a constitutional amendment is proposed in the state House, but fails in the Senate. 1896 * DeVoe returns to Montana to continue organizing clubs and getting more women interested in suffrage. * November: MWSA holds their annual convention in

Butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...

. * November 20:

Ella Knowles Haskell Ella Knowles Haskell (July 31, 1860 – January 27, 1911) was an American lawyer, suffragist, and politician. Born in New Hampshire, she moved to Montana to improve her health following a bout of tuberculosis and there became the first woman t ...

becomes the president of MWSA. 1897 * November: MWSA holds their annual convention in Helena. * Formation of an Equal Suffrage Party. 1898 * February 16: Haskell speaks at the

(NAWSA) Conference held in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

* November 1: MWSA holds their annual convention in Helena with Catt speaking. * Suffragists ask all state legislative candidates to explain their positions on women's suffrage. 1899 * A women's suffrage bill was introduced to the state legislature through the lobbying of Mary B. Atwater, but it never makes it out of committee. * October: MWSA convention is held in Helena with Catt and

Mary Garrett Hay Mary "Mollie" Garrett Hay (August 20, 1857 – August 29, 1928) was an American suffragist and community organizer. She served as president of the Women's City Club of New York, the Woman Suffrage Party and the New York Equal Suffrage League. ...

attending.

20th century

1900s

1900 * Fall: Helena women lobby

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, Democratic and Populist party conventions to include a women's suffrage plank. 1902 *

returns to Montana and brings

Gail Laughlin Abbie "Gail" Hill Laughlin (May 7, 1868 – March 13, 1952) was an American lawyer, suffragist, an expert for the United States Industrial commission, and a member of the Maine State Senate. She was the first woman from Maine to practice law. She ...

and Laura A. Gregg to reorganize suffrage groups. 1903 * A women's suffrage amendment is introduced in the Montana legislature, but it doesn't pass. 1905 * Another women's suffrage amendment is introduced in the legislature, but it doesn't pass again.

1910s

1911 *

Jeannette Rankin Jeannette Pickering Rankin (June 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973) was an American politician and women's rights advocate who became the first woman to hold federal office in the United States in 1917. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representat ...

becomes the first woman to address the

Montana Legislature The Montana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Montana. It is composed of the 100-member Montana House of Representatives and the 50-member Montana Senate. The Montana Constitution dictates that the legislature me ...

when she speaks to the Senate on women's suffrage. * Suffragists host a women's suffrage booth at the Montana State Fair. 1912 * The

Montana Equal Suffrage Association Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia ...

(MESA) is created. * Suffragists again host a women's suffrage boot at the Montana State Fair. 1913 * A women's suffrage bill passes in the Montana Legislature and is sent to the voters in 1914. * Jeannette Rankin travels from Montana to Washington, D.C. by car, collecting signatures in support of women's suffrage along the way. * October: The Montana WCTU decides to focus solely on women's suffrage for the next year. * December: WCTU paper, ''Woman's Voice'', starts publishing again. 1914 * The ''Suffrage Daily News'' is published in Helena. * January: MESA opens headquarters in

. * Spring:

James Lees Laidlaw James Lees Laidlaw (December 19, 1868 – May 9, 1932) was a banker, civic worker, and philanthropist. He supported the League of Nations and women's suffrage movement. He was president of the New York State Men's League for Women's Suffrage, whi ...

and Wellington D. Rankin found a Montana chapter of the National Men's Suffrage League. * May 2: Governor Sam Stewart declares "Woman's Day" on May 2. A suffrage car parade held on Last Chance Gulch in Helena. * June: Jeannette Rankin gives a speech at the meeting of the

Montana Federation of Women's Clubs Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

(MFWC) in Lewistown. MFWC came out in support of women's suffrage. * September 24: The Montana State Fair has a women's suffrage booth. * November 3: The women's suffrage amendment passed 41,302 to 37,588. Montana is now one of eleven states to give women the vote. 1915 * January: Suffragist meeting in Helena to discuss "intelligent use of the ballot." Women change the name of their suffrage groups to the Montana Good Government Association. 1919 * August 2: Montana ratifies the Nineteenth Amendment, becoming the thirteenth state to ratify.

1920s

1924 * The

Indian Citizenship Act The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, (, enacted June 2, 1924) was an Act of the United States Congress that granted US citizenship to the indigenous peoples of the United States. While the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ...

is passed, providing rights for Native Americans to vote in Montana.

References

Sources

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External links

Timeline of women in Montana politics
{{Authority control Women's suffrage in Montana Timelines of states of the United States Suffrage referendums History of Montana

Suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...